Did you know that a total of 14,349 scam cases were reported between January to June 2022? Job scams topped the list with over 3,500 cases reported and more than $58 million lost, according to mid-year statistics released by the police on 29 Aug 2022.

At FastJobs, we have also had our fair share of experiences with job scams, where a number of our jobseekers have received job offers from unknown mobile numbers. These "employers" claim to have discovered our jobseekers' resumes on FastJobs, despite our jobseekers never applying to them.

With job scammers constantly evolving their tactics, it's important to take note of these warning signs to avoid falling prey.

Some employers may offer abnormally high pay in exchange for minimal effort involved. This offer may seem very enticing at first glance, but before we decide to accept these offers without a thought, we should do a quick background check on the authenticity of the spokesperson and the company they claim to represent. If the scope of the company and the type of work described by the spokesperson do not match, chances are you might be getting scammed.

Receiving job offers from unknown sources is a telltale sign of a job scam. Some "employers" may say they received your profile from verified job seeking platforms, but you should still stay cautious if you do not recall applying to the job. You should refrain from accepting the job offer or giving away your personal information.

Another thing to take note of is the tone of these job offers. If the tone of these offers are unnecessarily urgent, then you are likely a prey of job scams. Presence of typo errors in job offers is also another red flag to pay particular attention to.

If you receive suspicious messages from FastJobs, you may confirm the identity of the sender by reaching out to us at customercare@fastjobs.sg. Please take extra caution when receiving unsolicited job offers!

Commission-based jobs are performance-based and have the potential to bring about many returns. However, these jobs are likely to be used to promote job scams given how lucrative they are. For most job scams involving commissioned-based jobs, "employers" would offer abnormally high commission rates, but only if the job seekers make purchases by transferring their money to an unknown account. They would have only realised they have gotten scammed when the potential "employer" or the site to make their purchase disappeared.

To safeguard yourself from these job scams, an effort should be made to check whether the websites involved in the job offers are verified and from trusted sources. Another good practice is not to transfer any funds to any account if you do not know the receiver personally.